Santiago, Chile, Jul 21, 2013 / 17:45 pm
Forty Australian World Youth Day pilgrims made a special stop in Chile on Saturday to help rebuild a 200-year-old church that was totally destroyed in a massive earthquake three years ago.
"We have been bringing youth to help rebuild this parish ever since the 2010 earthquake," said Matías Quer, Missions Coordinator for the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in Chile. "Although we have made a lot of progress, there is still so much to do."
On Saturday the Australian pilgrims, accompanied by Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Terrence Brady, made a special stop in the province of Maipo near Santiago to lend a hand in the reconstruction of a two-hundred year old church utterly destroyed in 2010.
In February 2010, Chile suffered one of the worst earthquakes in modern history. The magnitude 8.8 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 500 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings.